EARTH AS A MATERIAL FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF MODERN HOUSES

Earth was used for construction of residential buildings during the past. Due to the more widespread tendency toward the use of sustainable local materials, today earth is present as one of the dominant material for building of modern houses. Applied techniques for construction of earth houses differ depending on characteristics of the region and architectural tradition. This paper presents characteristics of earth as a building material, traditional constructing techniques for construction of residential buildings from earth, regulations which allow the construction in many countries of the world, as well as traditional constructing techinques for building residential buildings from earth. Likewise, through the emblematic realizations of contemporary architecture it was shown that earth houses have the possibility to achieve modern standard of living and to satisfy aesthetic requirements